Customer Reviews

Angelfish

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When one singer leaves their original band to join another & wind up having much larger success than before, it can leave that previous group in the dust to be forgotten for all time. But in the case of Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, her old band Angelfish had just as much potential and talent to make it on their own before Garbage's future members saw the band's video on MTV, and at last found their frontwoman. As Shirley went on to multiplatinum glories with Garbage, Angelfish's self-titled 1993 debut (and only album) still stands alone as its own singularly fine work.

Stylistically, ANGELFISH leans more towards Garbage's 1995 self-titled debut with its more guitar-based rock textures than the highly-polished techno flourishes of 1998's VERSION 2.0 & 2001's BEAUTIFULGARBAGE. This is mostly thanks to the producership of husband-and-wife duo Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth (both formerly of Talking Heads). In fact, ANGELFISH could be in the vein of the Heads' first album from before Brian Eno was brought into commercialize them. In any event, ANGELFISH is a rocking good time displaying all the qualities that would help make Shirley's work with Garbage such a rousing success.

Charging out of the gates at the beginning is the sexy, glam-rock come-on of "Dogs In A Cage". David Bowie would have given his eyeteeth for a song like this in his DIAMOND DOGS days, but Shirley is just as alluring in her come-on. Who knew that such a dark, yet strangely inviting Scottish lass like Shirley could be so seductive?

The rock continues on a cover of Holly & The Italians' "You Can Love Her" (love that drum intro), "King Of The World" (who said a female singer has to use "queen" in the title), and "Mummy Can't Drive" (this is a woman you may not want to bring home to the parents). While Shirley may have been the obvious breakout star of the group, Angelfish the band are given ample opportunities to shine on these revved-up ditties. Frantz & Weymouth must have told the group to just play live & not let overdubs get in the way, hence the raw, ballsy performance they give to these tunes.

However, ANGELFISH is mostly an album somber in mood & slinky in its instrumentation. "Suffocate Me" is another song that is so flat-out sexy, it's a wonder that it can come off that way in the cool & detached (but no so much to forsake all emotion) voice of Shirley. "The Sun Won't Shine", "Heartbreak To Hate", "Tomorrow Forever" & "The End" have her & Angelfish turning out goodbye ballads that even at their most Bic-lighter-waving moments have enough volume to place them above sappiness. On the other hand, my favorite song off the album "Sleep With Me" follows that method of slow-and-steady-wins-the-race, but with a much happier outcome in the end. Deep down inside, Shirley just might look like an ice queen on the outside, but it doesn't take much to melt her facade to get to the heart of gold.

ANGELFISH may not have set the charts on fire with its release, but it apparently did well enough for a video to reach MTV & catch the eyes of the members of Garbage, in need of an eyecatching frontperson to take them to the top. Better yet, while most famous musicians' pre-fame groups may worth mentioning for curiosity issues, Shirley Manson & Angelfish happily turned out an album that had all the potential to being a breakout success in itself.

Hopefully, those music fans who have been won over by Garbage's body of work will seek out Angelfish's lone album to see that Shirley Manson not only had talent to spare beforehand, but with a group that could best be described as Garbage with an extra dose of testosterone (apologies to Shirley). A liberal amount of production gloss may have boosted Garbage into the stratosphere, but Angelfish shows it could have succeeded on its raw talent alone had the public had wider-open ears.

I got this album--most likely the same as the majority of the people who bought this album--because I am a fan of Garbage and wanted to listen to Shirley Manson's older band. I wasn't sure what to expect. As a huge fan of Garbage, and as someone who thinks Shirley Manson is one of the greatest frontwomen of the last 20 years, I decided to give it a chance, with no real expectations, one way or the other.

The result was that I was very pleasantly surprised. The sound of Angelfish was far more primitive than Garbage. Angelfish didn't have the the gloss and the synths of Garbage, so it sounds more stripped down and basic. Compared to Garbage, the songs are more straight-forward and guitar oriented, but still have the same pop-sensibility. The band, Martin Metcalfe (guitar) Derek Kelly (drums) and Fin Wilson (bass) are all competent musicians, but to be honest, aren't of the same caliber as Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker. The entire CD is a fine collection of songs, and although some tracks are better than others, there isn't really any filler. The overall tone/vibe of the album is somewhat dark and cynical, as song titles like "Dogs in a Cage," "Suffocate Me" and "The Sun Wont Shine" would suggests. And as much as I enjoyed these songs, I find that the more pop oriented material are the album's high-points. "You Can Love Her," "Sleep With Me," and "Heartbreak to Hate" remain some of Manson's most memorable enchanting songs to date.

Angelfish was a young band, just starting out, and this was an excellent debut. If Manson had not gone on to sing for Garbage, I imagine they would have improved over time. Angelfish is a relatively short album, only about 35 minutes total. In sum, it's a good, short-but-sweet, somewhat cynical pop album. Although Angelfish's lone album is not as good as anything Garbage has released, it's still a fine album and highly recommended for Shirley Manson/Garbage fans.

I came across this album listing while looking for other CDs.

When I saw that Shirley Manson was the lead singer of this band, I knew that I had to listen to a few tracks. I was blown away by what I heard, of course I am biased because I love Shirley as a vocalist. Keep in mind that Angelfish and Garbage are two different types of music. Nonetheless, I love both group's albums.

Some of the best songs on Angelfish's album are "You Can Love Her", "Sleep with Me", "Suffocate Me", "Heartbreak to Hate", and my personal favorite "King of the World." Shirley reminds me of Deborah Harry (Blondie) when she belts out this tune.

Make no mistake that all ten songs on this album make it worth purchasing.

I found this album by a pure "stoke of luck" one night while combing through a file of available CDs at a record store..I was amazed to know that Shirley Manson was in another band ( 2 actually.)before joining Garbage. The intro song blasts u into the world of Anglefish, much like "supervixen" does on Garbage's debut album. Don't expect this album to be a pre-Garbage CD...it may have Shirley, but is missing many of the aspects that is making Garbage the succesful band it is. First and for most is the sound. Angelfish is no where near the in depth, electronic, gloom and doom sound that Garbage has come to develop so well. Instead, Angelfish has a less complicated, and sometimes 80's sound to them...but make no mistake, they still know how to rock. Next there are the lyrics...though not as gloomy as Garbage, this band can easily depress anyone's day. "Dogs in a Cage", "King of the World", "The Sun Won't Shine, and "! Mummy Can't Drive" were easily the best songs on the album, but were never heard by public...what a pity. But overall, any hardcore fan of Garbage, or even of Blondie( for Shirley does sound like Deborah Harry on some of the songs.) should buy this CD right away. Although finding it may be a chore, it will be well worth the search.

In 1993, before she was literally handpicked by the guys in Garbage to become their lead singer, Scottish lass Shirley Manson recorded one self-titled album with the band Angelfish. In short, this is a very good, solid rock album, highlighted by Shirley's sultry lead vocals on such cool tunes as "Suffocate Me," "Sleep With Me," and "Mummy Can't Drive." Little did Shirley realise it at the time, but she was practically auditioning for Garbage with this album, and she passed with flying colors. Angelfish quickly folded, and Shirley graduated to the big leagues of rock with Garbage, but Angelfish's lone album is great stuff, and is a must-own for any fan of Garbage who desires that one extra album with the seductive voice of Shirley Manson. Buy it!

Little did I know that Shirley's first band was so good! I just heard this CD, and can't stop playing it. I looked up on the web for angelfish, after a friend introduced me to the cd, and discovered that this old band has a new band called the filthy tongues. Their stuff is just as dark and dirty as this CD. Buy this and check out their new stuff!

Woah. From the time the albumn started I was floored. She is UNREAL. I personally prefered this albumn to those she has done with Garbage, (I also dug those though) but you would have to like a little edgier stuff to agree with me on that. There were traces of Siouxee, Evanescance (Suffocate Me), even the Pretenders at times and obviously threads of Garbage. She shows incredible versatility. I wish they had done before she moved to Garbage. If you do not own it and are looking at it, BUY IT.

I got this for Christmas because I am a huge Garbage fan. I wasn't sure I would like it at all, but I popped it into my CD player.
WHAM. "Dogs In A Cage" came on, and I was just blown away. She sounds even better in that one than she does in a lot of Garbage songs! It is one of those rare songs that you just have to crank up until you are truly worried about permanent hearing damage.
The full rundown:
"Dogs In A Cage": Blowout. I don't know or care what the title means.
"Suffocate Me": Sensual and threatening at the same time. It sounds to me like she wants to suffocate someone rather than that she is being suffocated. That quality is what made me a Garbage fan in the first place...
"You Can Love Her": Surprisingly upbeat. I liked it, though not as much as "Dogs In A Cage" or "Mummy Can't Drive."
"King of the World": Not too bad, though I find it weird that she is hoping to become a king... aren't queens good enough?
"Sleep With Me": I'm sorry, but I did not like this one. Was she asleep when she sang it?
"Heartbreak To Hate": Eh. Really not very good.
"The Sun Won't Shine": A nice tinge of desperation on a good song for rainy, maudlin days.
"Mummy Can't Drive": Loud, menacing, and really, really wonderful!
"Tomorrow Forever": Depends on the mood you are in. If you are having strong feelings of any kind, this will probably bore you.
"The End": Shirley Manson nips it in the bud for a good closing song.
If you like banging your head\Shirley Manson's voice, you will enjoy this. The high points are awesome and the low points would not be construed low points on other albums.

I spotted this CD in a bargain section of my local CD store. Well, being the fan of Garbage that I am I immediately purchased it. I was expecting something like, Garbage, the sequel.
What I got was a gothy, dark mix of almost garage rock. Shirley's voice shines on "You Can Love Her", "King of the World", "Heartbreak to Hate" and "Suffocate Me". If you'd like to see the good tracks on this CD, just read the track list.
Now, this CD may not be everyone's favorite work by Shirley Manson, but its still a great CD by a great, if shortlived, band.

Like many who have already reviewed this album, I too was interested in this album due to Shirley Manson's part in it.

At first, I must say, I wasn't much into the music of Angelfish; but after a few listens I definately started to latch onto it. I'd actually have to say, that some of these songs remind me of Blondie.

The lyrics are morbidly up-beat, and the music itself is quite catchy. I'd give this album a try...